Anna at home

"Oh, it's too bad that you don't go to preschool." --One of Anna's friends.

"Please bless Anna and mom that they won't be too lonely at home." --Sam in his prayer this morning.

Ah hem...yes, well you'll be happy to know that most days we aren't lonely.
Anna is a powerhouse in a four-year-old body. She has been from day one. It has been very helpful to have one on one time to help her understand her strong emotions and learn to control them.

We have found that staying busy helps keep strong emotions in check. There are some days that we feel pretty lazy, but most of the time we stay on task.

Anna has been eager to learn to read. Her siblings and parents love reading, so this seems natural.

I have used this book for my other children and Anna is doing well with it now:


Each lesson is about 10 minutes long. Perfect for young readers.
This is our most resent lesson in the book:


We also read lots of books together. Sometimes we spend the whole morning reading books! (I have LOVED doing this with each of my kids. I may have failed in other areas of parenting, but not reading.)


Anna likes workbooks. I've purchased lots and lots of workbooks in the past. These are our favorite. Zero frustration. Easy to follow. Fun, colorful illustrations. They even sneak in a little culture and geography:


As an incentive for doing well, she gets to do a couple of fun mazes. Anna loves mazes.


We also recently started piano lessons. So far, Anna has really enjoyed this too.


Anna also helps me with daily chores. We fold clothes together, do dishes together and run errands together. Anna comes with me to the school sometimes when I help out there. She also gets to play with friends a couple of times a week.

Twice a week Anna goes to gymnastics for an hour and a half. It has been so fun watching her develop her strength and concentration. She has been going to gymnastics for about a year and a half and it has helped this "active" child channel that energy in a very positive way.


Even with all we do, Anna anxiously awaits the return of her siblings every afternoon. She is always so happy to see them.

And so I am.

But I sure do love my time with Anna.

Pleased as punch.

Please forgive this mother and allow her a moment to brag.

Every year our school district and PTA hold a contest called "Reflections." It's an opportunity for kids to stretch their creative legs. They have categories such as

Visual Art
3D Art
Photography
Dance
Music
Literature

This year, Sam and Elise entered poems in the Literature category. This year's theme was:
"Together We Can"

There were only two winners in the Literature category for 3rd through 6th grade.
Guess who they were?

Yep.

So proud.

I figured you'd want to read the poems and their artist's statements.

Sam's:
I was inspired to write about American history because I love my country. The only reason we have come this far is because people have worked together. 

Together

Samuel A.

Together, they won their independence.

Together, they built a nation.

Together, they abolished slavery.  

Together, they used the westward expansion to their advantage.

Together, they built the transcontinental railroad. 

Together, they pulled though the great depression, a nightmare.

Together, they recovered.

Together, they saved countless lives, but lost many during the world wars.

Together, they became a superpower.

Together, they had their dreams, and made them reality.

Together, we can, too. 

Elise's:
My poem relates to the theme because people are working together to plant trees to help the earth. I made the words come together to make a tree just like the people came together to plant trees.

TREES

I planted a seedling. 

Seed, seed, seedling. 

Then someone came to help me.  

Me, me, me. 

We planted two seedlings. 

Seed, seed, seedlings. 

Then someone came to help us.

We, we, we. 

We planted three seedlings. 

Seed, seed, seedlings. 

Then finally,

they 

grew

into         

trees.

By: Elise A.

Not bad, eh? The poems definitely reflect their individual style.
So, we may not get trophies for soccer, football or hockey, but I've got two shiny trophies in my living room with LITERATURE on them.
Please. as. punch.

My exciting, creepy camping trip with Dad.

by Sam (age 11)



For one thing we kinda got off to a late start because we missed the marker for the trail. By the time we found it the sun was starting to go down.



Dad had the better pack, sort of. My sleeping pad and sleeping bag were on top of my shoulders. The beginning was especially hard because the trail was so steep. Half way up it started to level out so it got easier. Dad's legs are longer, so he was always ahead of me.



The hike up there was about a mile. We wanted to see the lake before the sun went down.

When we got up to the meadow it was kinda cool because it was almost as if the sun was on top of the mountain.



I set up the tent, and then it was pretty dark. I had the headlamp on. Dad was getting the food ready.

As I was zipping up my pant leg, Dad grabs my headlamp and says, "Sam! Give me the light!" He sounded a little urgent and it totally creeped me out and I was like "What the... dad?"

And then he shines the light on this near-by hill. I heard some noises close by but I couldn't really see anything. All of a sudden Dad makes this Whooop yell and claps his hands. I could barely make out a large, dark shape disappear over the hill.

After that we were on edge. We said a prayer and Dad asked for protection. We decided not to cook dinner. We just ate beef jerky.

THEN, a short time later there was this crashing noise going through the woods on the edge of the meadow. We also heard grunting noises. Then it came across the meadow. We couldn't see it, but we could hear it pass right by us and then go across the meadow.

That's when I decided it was time to go to bed. I was all shaky. Number one, it was cold and also I was totally freaked out.

I went straight to sleep.

But Dad didn't sleep well, apparently. He said he kept hearing noises and was worried. He slept with is pocket knife close by.

In the morning I had to go to the bathroom really bad, but it was still dark and there was no way I was going out there. Dad told me that large dark shape was a bear. The large crashing noise we later heard was probably moose. Dad told me how I should stay away from young moose because mother moose could be very dangerous.

Finally the sun came up. I can tell you this, it gave me courage. I could finally go out. But I insisted Dad go out first.

We ate oatmeal and drank hot chocolate for breakfast and more beef jerky.


My first camping trip with dad was exciting in a creepy way. Yeah, I'm actually looking forward to the next one.

Walking as a witness.

Happy national Ice Cream Sandwich day! Who knew, right? Guess what we had for our family night treat?

I feel that I should write down a few words about our experience from Trek last week. The truth is, when I think about it right now, I'm so overwhelmed that I'm just not sure where to start.

My friend and neighbor who does not go to our church, asked me why the heck I would want to spend three days, with teenagers, pulling a hand cart in the desert?

That's a valid question.

See, I belong to a church with this rich history of courage and sacrifice. Service and sacrifice are a huge part of who we are as Latter-day Saints. In 1847, members of our church were forced out of their homes, again, in the middle of winter, after their leader and prophet was murdered. The took only what they could carry in a wagon or handcart and walked about 1300 miles from Nauvoo, Illinois to the Salt Lake valley in Utah. Ultimately 70,000 pioneers followed that first group out to Salt Lake City.

We take so much for granted today.

"Trek" is a planned experience, usually with youth age 14-18 and their leaders, encompassing 3-5 days. Typically it's a recreation of the experience that the pioneers had. Obviously it's not exactly like it, but it gives one a taste of what it might have been like.

No cars, no air conditioning, and *gasp* no cell phones.

Lots of time together. Helping one another. Actually talking to people~one hot, sweaty, tired face to another.

Our leaders chose to have us dress in pioneer clothes.We spent weeks sewing bonnets, skirts and aprons.

So, why do we do it?

Well, we want to do hard things. We want to have experiences that bring us closer together and closer to the Lord. We especially want our youth to have an understanding of the sacrifices that have been made so they could worship so freely.
And guess what?
We also want to have fun.

Nobody really got that at first.
In fact, there were not a whole lot of people that really wanted to go

Even I started to have my doubts a couple of weeks before we left.

Nevertheless, things worked out for us to be able to go.
Thank you Kim and Raleigh! And Mary and Cambrea!

Jeremy and I were asked to go as a "ma and pa."
We had in our "family" myself and Jeremy, two girls, two boys, one woman (she helped with the food and didn't stay with us the whole time) and one man.
Here we are at the beginning. Mostly all smiles and fresh as daisies.

(photo by Diane Edman)

We walked, pushing a handcart loaded with buckets, gear and water, 8 miles the first and second day and about 4 miles the third day.
I started to keep a detailed journal the evening before we left.
It got completely soaked after lunch on the first day by this torrential rain storm:


Yes, we had ponchos, but they were some where in the middle of the cart under a tarp that we did not want to move!
So we got wet.
It rained so hard that we had to stop for a while. Plus there was lighting really close. We practiced our "lightning positions."
I'll never forget just sitting in the rain with my "family."

Shortly after the storm passed every one went crazy and started eating grasshoppers. It's true!
Well, not every one. i didn't.
It just started as one person daring another. Totally unplanned, but will be one of the most memorable things about trek.
I've got some video of Jeremy eating one. Only it's very poor quality, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

That night we camped. We sang around a camp fire. We listened to the stories of some pioneers. We played a game. We ate a really delicious dinner of pulled, BBQ beef on rolls. Definitely not roughing it too much.



Although, that ground was pretty hard.

And the boys were loud.

One of the most significant things about the next day was the women's pull.
It sounds crazy.

You take all the men away from the carts, just when the going gets really tough and let the women pull by themselves.

I wasn't too happy about this. But I thought I could handle it just fine. I'm chubby, but I'm strong.
I was wrong. It was hard. Really hard.
The sand was wet and deep. The cart was so super heavy.
Why?
Why did they ask us to do this?
The men couldn't even talk to us. They were instructed not to touch the carts at all.
It sounds crazy. Like some barbaric ritual.
Yet, this really happened. Women had to pull carts across the plains by themselves if their husband died or was called to war.
Still, while I was straining under the weight of the heavy, heavy cart with just my two girls, I asked
why?
And it was hot. Hotter than Hades. Three-O'clock-in-afternoon-in-July-in-Utah hot.
My muscles started to freeze up and the trail never ended. I knew that we would not be able to do this with out help. So we moved our cart to the side and started helping another cart. With six women, the carts went much better. We pushed and pulled to the end and then all went back for the other cart. I tried to sing, "As Sisters in Zion" but could not get more than a few lines out.



(photos by Diane Edman)


When we finally got to the end the men were feebly singing "Come, Come Ye Saints" and as I was pulling I thought, "Is that the best you can do?" Then I looked up and saw the tears in their eyes and understood that it was probably the best they could do.


When we got to camp that night we all just sort of collapsed. Then we we played games, caught snakes, ate another wonderful meal, had an uplifting, spiritual testimony meeting and slept soundly. (At least the leaders did)
The sentiment that night overall was that while most of us were not too excited about Trek at the beginning, we were glad we came.



The leaders were truly inspired with everything from "solo time" to the journals they gave us, the crafts we did, the activities. It was all so well planned and I'm sure that's a huge reason for it's success. There was so much time and sacrifice involved.

We each got to walk for a particular pioneer. We learned about their life and trials on their own trek across the prairie. Mine was Euphemia Mitchell. She joined the church in England and traveled all the way to Salt Lake city with a friend in the Willie Handcart Company. She started out with five pairs of shoes, but they all wore out before the winter was out. Her toes became so frozen that it was necessary to later scrape the flesh from her bones so they could heal. Despite the cold an many hardships, she tried to stay focused on the good things.

"The campfires at night were very good times. We sang Church hymns and they inspired us. 'Come, Come Ye Saints' was my favorite, and we were happy in our labors. A bond of love and frienship was amongst us. We learned the value of resting and keeping the Sabbath Day. we did not choose to remember the pains of hunger and the cold, but wanted to remember the goodness of God unto us."





Joseph Smith said:
A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation. Those who do not make the sacrifice cannot enjoy this faith, because men are dependent upon this sacrifice in order to obtain this faith."

I'm so thankful for the opportunity Jeremy and I had to sacrifice a little of our time.
The return was greater than we could have hoped for.

Which is often how the Lord works.














(photo by Diane Edman)

The right place.

This summer I volunteered our family to work once a week at This is the Place Heritage Park. My family is so good about humoring me.

Actually, the kids really love getting dressed up and being pioneers for a day.

And I can go no further with out publicly thanking my wonderful mother for making the girls' dresses and pantaloons. I get compliments on them all the time. I love my mother!

Sam slips into another world and time when he goes. Especially with the dialog. I've had people ask me where he is taking acting lessons. They are always so surprised when I tell them he's not.


Elise is in heaven with all the animals. It's exciting for me, as mother, to see my children grow into and develop their talents.


Claire is happy to run around with friends. She also takes her house chores very seriously (hmmm...) and loves to tend the baby animals.


Anna is happy to run around with Claire, tending animals and riding ponies. We had some drama last week, but with some training, a good night's sleep and plenty of food and water, this week was a much happier experience for her.



Another thing that makes this experience so much fun is that our friends are up there with us!
 Here are a few of them in front of the house that we tend. The official term is "interpreters." That's what we are.We interpret the history for our guests at the park.




At times pioneer life seems so idyllic. It's quieter.  It's moves at a slower pace. It's more family-centered.

Today we picked cherries. They will be really sweet in about a week, but we couldn't help ourselves.



Idyllic, yes?
Well, here's a little reality for you:
This morning Claire and Anna ate a whole pint of blueberries for breakfast. Then they ate pocket-fulls of cherries at the park. Can you see where this is going? Yep. To the loo. (or "necessary" as we call it at the park) Thank goodness for indoor plumbing.

This is the garden we help tend:


This little lamb was so new, it still had it's umbilical chord.



All in all, a very good day. Hot, but good. We come home tired and sleep well.
Yes,
this is the right place!

You are there. We are here.

We are in the middle of our annual pilgrimage to the big house in the big woods.  This time we flew.
5 hours vs 48 hours.
Wow.

We've had plenty of rain, but not enough to deter us from swimming in the river, playing in the emerald green wonderland, biking, kayaking, and eating mummu's yummy rhubarb cake.

Oh my, we've done lots of reading. Lots and lots. This house is FILLED with books. And memories --old costumes, letters, yearbooks, pictures, toys that echo with other children's laughter.
We are relishing all the love and attention the king and queen of this castle bestow.
We've also played with our very dear friends. We love our very dear friends!

One of the highlights so far:
Getting really hot in the sauna and then jumping in the cold river.

Ahh.....summer, we love your long, carefree days.

Seriously.

Hello blog world. It's been a while.
Jeremy and I have been home for almost twenty-four hours.
We've spent the last ten days walking our feet off in England and France.
My mother(bless her), stayed with our children.

There will be multiple posts dedicated to this trip.

I have lots to say. Trust me.

However, it is getting late and I have two words: jet lag.

I will leave you with a few pictures, please feel free to fill in the words for me.